ATTENTION

Our eyes and ears should be open and alert to the natural wonders that surround us every day. Take time to look out our windows to see the birds that visit us and open our windows to hear them. Walk around whatever space we have to enjoy the birds in nature. Every day, work on improving our powers of observation.

ACCEPTANCE

Nature happens. We cannot MAKE natural things happen (or NOT happen). We can create habitats to encourage natural things to happen around us, but there are no guarantees.

RESPONSIBILITY

Birdfeeding comes with responsibilities to the birds and the environment we share with them. If you are unwilling to accept these responsibilities, you shouldn’t feed the birds. We also have a responsibility to share these natural wonders with the next generation.

January 13, 2011

Top 5 Things to Know about Niger Seed

1) WHEN NIGER SEED DRIES OUT, BIRDS WON'T EAT ITNiger is a oily seed which makes it an excellent energy source for the birds that eat it. But its oily nature also causes it to dry out AND LOSE ITS ATTRACTIVENESS TO BIRDS. Birds will turn their beaks to old niger seed. Avoid waste by only purchasing niger in a quantity you'll use in a month or two.

2) NIGER SEED IS NOT THISTLE SEED (AND OTHER CONFUSING THINGS ABOUT THE NAME)Niger seed used to be called thistle, but it is not the noxious thistle weed we see growing on roadsides. It typically will not germinate under your feeders since the USDA requires that all niger seed imported to this country be heat-treated to sterilize the seed.

Niger is an agricultural crop imported primarily from India, Ethiopia, Nepal and Burma (Myanmar). In these countries, it is processed into both cooking and lighting oil. You may also see it called Nyger®.

3) NIGER SEED HAS A SHELLAs small as it is, a niger seed does have a shell. If you think birds aren't eating the seed because you see some on the ground, examine it more closely: you may be seeing mostly the thin niger hulls.

4) WHEN NIGER SEED GETS MOLDY, IT IS BAD FOR THE BIRDSNiger seed is vulnerable to spoilage while in the feeder. Replace niger seed every 3-4 weeks if it is not being actively eaten. Shake the feeder daily to help prevent clumping and mold. Make sure the seed stays dry; a weather guard can help in this regard. If the seed gets moldy, it should be discarded and a 10% bleach/water solution should be used to clean the feeder. The WBU EcoClean Finch Feeder has antimicrobial protection and a Quick-Clean™ base to help make cleaning a snap!

Common Redpolls eat niger seed from a mesh finch feeder.

5) MORE SPECIES THAN JUST GOLDFINCHES EAT NIGER SEEDNiger seed is one of the favorite seeds of goldfinches, Pine Siskins, Common Redpolls and other small-billed seed-eating birds. We've also seen nuthatches, chickadees, doves, Downy Woodpeckers, and other small birds eating it. Let me know other birds you've seen eating niger.

And a bonus to feeding niger seed? Squirrels typically ignore it when fed straight up! So hang those niger feeders and enjoy the finches and other birds!

Charlie, As far as finch feeders with perches or with screens, we like to start people out with a finch feeder with perches. Then as they add a second feeder (finches are sitters!), a mesh finch can make sense.
In areas that get Common Redpolls and/or Pine Siskins, we love recommending the mesh because of how many birds it can hold. Seeing a feeder packed with these finches can be amazing!

Hi Carol: My mom wants a Niger bird feeder for Christmas, for Chickadees and Finches - she's a huge bird lover and has much luck with these birds. Any suggestions on where to buy one? Should I use Niger food as well? She lives in MN so the feeder and food will have to be OK with our climate.

SK, how interesting! I wonder if they were young birds trying to find out if they liked it? Thanks for sharing your observation.
Eagleyepatrick, I'd say your best bet is the compost. I'm glad to hear you're cleaning up under your birdfeeders - it's healthier for the birds. Thanks for reading and happy birdfeeding!

Hi Nancy sorry the first post for you. what can I use nyger shells for? can I use it in the compost heap? I buy 20kgs at a which leaves a lot of waste around where feed the birds ,I am blessed to have every garden bird on the list of garden birds plus more so I have a lot of waste most goes on the compost heap but not too sure about the nyger husks. kind regards patrick
your input is also very welcome, regards

Rob, if there is a great deal of niger shell waste, it could indeed kill the vegetation below. What I am not able to tell you is whether the shells themselves contain compounds that kill vegetation (which sunflower shells contain).
Best to rake up shell waste of any kind on a regular basis, both to encourage growth under the feeders and also for the birds' health.

I've recently lost the Lantanas under the Nyger feeder. Is the large amount of shell waste responsible? Does Nyger inhibit the growth of other plants? I have rigged up a tray under the mesh feeder that catches most of it but quite a lot somehow gets past.

As to the species that it attracts in my back yard, is as you might expect, finches, gold and house. English Sparrows have now developed a taste for the high priced spread now to my annoyance.

For several days we have seen Indigo Buntings at our niger sock feeder! What a treat! Along with the goldfinches, the indigos are beautiful! But we ran out of niger seed, ran to our local farm/hardware store and purchased seed from them in bulk. It was called thistle seed. Is this the same as Niger? But the buntings and the goldfinches will not touch it! Do you think it's all dry and so unappealing? Or is it because it's thistle seed? We so hope we didn't lose the Indigo buntings!

Sherry, typically big box stores buy niger in huge quantities of unknown quality, store it for some unknown period of time in a warehouse, in unknown heat conditions, and then sits in the store for an unknown period. For those reasons, try to buy niger from a small local source, where you can ask when the seed came in.
Seems you can't trust those sell-buy dates (which the stores can demand be future-dated how ever far in the future as they want to work with their inventory) but in most cases you CAN trust your small locally owned birdfeeding hobby shop.

Jean, we always caution against the use of grease on feeder poles in case birds get it on their feathers. It can effect their flight and they might ingest it as they preen it off their feathers. Better to place a physical barrier like a baffle on the pole.

My husband made a T-shaped pole from pipe and it is tall enough so that the squirrels cannot jump up onto it but we found that even though the pole is not really big around, the squirrels were climbing it to get to the top. My husband greased the pole and it was hysterical to watch the squirrels try to climb it...kept sliding back down towards the ground to the attraction of our rotweiller who took great pleasure in chasing them out of our yard! They don't even bother anymore to come into the yard let alone trying to get to the seed! HA!